Monday, November 17, 2008

As a part of me trying to eat healthier and get back into working out regularly, I’ve decided to set some goals for myself to ease back into things. I think trying to jump back into working out an hour and a half each day and eating "perfectly" (for me that means no binges!) would be too overwhelming. So I’m going to set these goals for myself now. After Christmas (only 5.5 weeks away – yay!!!!) I will re-evaluate them and set additional goals that are more challenging:

1. Drink at least 125 ounces of water a day – NOT including the water I drink before/during/after a workout.*2. Avoid diet sodas at night.3. Do cardio 4-5 times a week, for 30-60 minutes.4. Start strength training. Period!5. Eat at least 2-3 servings of fruit/veggies a day (that is not a lot, I know…baby steps!)

(*Does anyone know how much water you are “supposed” to have each day? I heard the 8 glasses of water thing is inaccurate….but I also heard too much water can be bad!)

Have you ever had to ease yourself into something by taking baby steps?

With water intake, the RD I spoke to said that we should have 8 glasses of fluids a day. This includes fluids you get from food (such as fruit), as well as water, juice, milk, tea, etc. Basically any kind of drink except for things like coffee and pop, which have loads of caffeine... and for every serving of alcohol, you're supposed to have an extra serving of fluids. That's about all I remember for that!

Liz - that's crazy that you had a post like this, too! Promise I didn't copy. ;-) I like "turtle" steps better then "baby," 'cause I'm planning on taking this slooow!

Sagan - Thank you! I guess that 8 glass/day is good...I think I'm good to go! I really do love water, I just need to watch the caffeine. I can have a lot of caffeine if I have a lot of water...right? Then it's okay? :-)

Through getting my Nutrition and Wellness consultant certification, I learned that, really, if a person eats a balanced diet (with plenty of fruits and vegetables) then they should be alright just drinking water whenever they are thirsty. So many foods have a high water content anyway. But I would definitely aim for at least 4 glasses Minimum just to make sure ;)

Biz - Thank you!! I think I am okay, according to what it said I should drink...like you, I have a bottle that holds 24 oz. and I aim to drink it/refill it 4-5 times during the day. Otherwise you would find me drinking Diet Coke! :-) I am better at it on the weekdays, too....and I wish beer counted on the weekends. It has some water in it.....right???

lajuliebean - that is very true. Certain days it's like I can't drink ENOUGH (water, hahaha). Then there are other days where I'm just okay. It's that whole "listening to your body" thing that I so need to work on!

Gina - I totally freak out if a water bottle isn't near me at all times! You are super active, though, and I'm sure you do need that extra liquid. The more I drink water, the more I crave it...weird, huh??

GREAT GOALS! I just recently did it with cardio- i hate it. i went from a few days a week, to half an hour most daysn and now im up to an hour most days. it took me a while, but once something is habit, thats when i add more.

Kelly - that makes me feel better because I'm sure you are a gizillion times more in shape than I am! That's kind of my approach with strength training...once I get started, I actually kinda like it. It's just getting motivated to get up off my arse. :-)